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Monday, April 2, 2012

MONDAY MUSINGS: The Britannic

Even though I'm not officially participating in April's A-Z Challenge, there are some fabulous articles by those who are. Here is the list of those participating. As my blog allows, I will be adding articles to correspond to the letter for the day, such as today's subject, B for Britannic.

This month marks the 100th anniversary of the
sinking of the Olympic class ocean liner, Titanic. On April 15, 1912 at 2:20
a.m., the highly touted unsinkable ship, slid under the waves.

Most ships built have sister ships, so I wondered, what
were the names of them and what happened to them?

The Olympic, Britannic, and Titanic Artist color depiction

As it happens, the Titanic had two sister ships, the
older sister, Olympic, which was started three months before the Titanic (launched on 20
October 1910 and served until 1935), and the youngest sister, Britannic,
built in 1913 and launched February 26, 1914. Just in time for the Great
War—WWI.

The Titanic disaster had taught the builders some lessons
and they were employed in the building of the Britannic. Safety features like
the second watertight inner skin added as she was being built and more
lifeboats—enough carry every member of the crew and all passengers.
Additionally, special emergency lifeboat crane davits, which would enable all
lifeboats to be launched despite listing (great idea but still didn’t work with
all the port side lifeboats). She was designed not to be able to sink in under
three hours. Still there was the prevailing idea that these three ships were
virtually unsinkable. In theory, I suppose that was true, but in reality, sadly
incorrect.

HMHS Britannic

The British Navy, commandeered the Britannic to be a
hospital ship, and she never saw commercial use. All her luxurious fittings
were removed and she became a hospital. Her maiden voyage was to provide a
hospital for the wounded of the disastrous Gallipoli campaign. The HMHS
Britannic completed five successful missions between the Mediterranean and
Briton carrying wounded.

On November 21, 1916 an explosion on starboard side of
the ship damaging two holds and the watertight bulkhead. The captain ordered
her watertight doors be closed and lifeboats readied. Unfortunately, not all
the doors were working and the Britannic took on water. Still, she should have
been fine had the nurses not opened the portholes on the lower deck for fresh air
in the wards and sadly allowed the water to pour into the ship. A lot of water.
The captain had thought to make a run for the Kea shore three miles away with
hopes of grounding the ship. Didn’t work. Britannic was listing too badly to
make it.

The explosion was thought to be either from an enemy mine
or torpedo (the German U-73’s records claim the Britannic was hit by one mine).
Hospital ships were generally safe from enemy attacks, but rumors abounded that
the Britannic was also carrying weapons. That may have made her a
target. The Britannic was carrying 625 crewmembers and 500 medical personnel.
Twenty-0ne members of the crew died along with 9 medical officers. I have no
idea how many patients she carried.

The ship built not to sink in under 3 hours sank in less
than 1—55 minutes to be precise.

The Britannic lies 400 feet down on the bottom of the
Aegean Sea in international waters. The likes of, Jacques Cousteau, and others
have explored her. In 2003, Carl Spenser, and crew dove the wreck. Sonar expert,
Bill Smith confirmed there were number of mine anchors located around the ship.
He also established the Britannic was hit by one mine and that the rapid
sinking was a result of faulty watertight doors (probably due to damage from
the explosion) and compounded by open portholes throughout the lower deck.

What a tragic ending for two bright stars of the Olympic-class
liners, commissioned by the White Star Line.

HMHS Britannic todayThe ship was 882 feet long and the hull broke whenit hit the Aegean floor, which is only 400' down.

29 comments:

This is a fascinating unofficial "B"! I just heard about how one of the original Titanic menus and room keys were recently auctioned off for a fortune! So sad that both ships sank and so many lives were lost. Julie

Fascinating history. I knew the Titanic has a sister ship, but didn't know the tale of the Brittanic. I once read an SF alternate history story where the Titanic had survived and the Beatles did one more album after Get Back. That story definitely tugged the heartstrings in a couple of different ways.

Jo-really? Wow. I know they found some menus but I hadn't seen recipes.

Denise-always have plenty of coffee here. Glad you stopped by. The Titanic was the largest civilian maritime tragedy and you can't help but be fascinated and saddened. Her two sisters were interesting too.

Hart, For sure the Titanic was a much greater tragedy with more people on board and who died. Britannic had a ship's compliment of 625 and 500 medical personnel and only lost 30 people.

What was fascinating to me? The older sister, The Olympic,also had her hull breached when she collided with a British warship off the Isle of Wright. The doors worked for her and the captain was able to close off the flooded compartments (a lot of water damage below the ship's waterline) and make her way back to Southampton on her own power to be repaired.

In fact, the shipyard took the propeller shaft and blade from the Titanic still under construction, and this delayed the Titanic's maiden voyage almost a month--21 days.

Interesting post! (Even if ya aren't "officially" doing the A-Z.) A Titanic exhibit is coming to Atlanta next month, and I'm really looking forward to seeing it. Thanks for signing onto my blog as a new follower, and I was more than happy to return the favor.

Thank you Susan! I can't do the A-Z with featuring authors each week. So I do it unofficially and when I can.

Kudos to those of you who do it and a blog every day, 'cept Sundays. I couldn't (I'm a person very aware of my limitations). Not with a working ranch, crops going in, taking a class and writing. I did ask the energizer bunny for help--even before A-Z and he made a fast exit stage left and I haven't seen him since, sigh.

Alex, not as much drama and romance as the Titanic, but it would make a good story if you were writing a story set in the drama of war.

Mary, I agree but they sure tried to make them unsinkable and in theory and within normal circumstances, they might have been. But neither the Titanic or the Britannic faced normal accidents the day they sank.

Thanks for dropping by at my blog. Loved this post- so very informative. In India, the largest biscuit manufacturer is called Brittania, and many claim it is named in honour of the ship (though it might well be in honour of Britain itself)- either way, was nice to learn so much about a name I have known in a vague sort of way forever.

Thanks for dropping by at my blog. Loved this post- so very informative. In India, the largest biscuit manufacturer is called Brittania, and many claim it is named in honour of the ship (though it might well be in honour of Britain itself)- either way, was nice to learn so much about a name I have known in a vague sort of way forever.